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History will be made next Sunday on a church stage in Plains Twp. as the Wyoming Valley Barbershop Harmony Chorus gathers for its Christmas show.

For the first time in its 66 year history, women will perform alongside the men.

It is a historic change for the barbershoppers, made possible by a decision this past summer by the International Barbershop Harmony Society to revise its bylaws and make them gender neutral. The society, founded in 1938 and based in Nashville, Tenn., removed the word “male” from its bylaws and opened membership to everyone as part of the society’s strategic vision, “Everyone in Harmony.”

When the Wyoming Valley Barbershop Harmony Chorus steps onto the stage at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, at Saints Peter and Paul Church, 13 Hudson Road, Plains Twp., for its Christmas show, “Love at Christmas,” four pioneering women singers will be part of the ensemble — JoAnn K. Mangan (tenor), of Swoyersville; Marian Holehan (tenor), of Tunkhannock; Sarah Lechak (tenor), of Pringle; and Michala Dennis (tenor), of Courtdale. It will be their first public performance. The chorus will also be joined by the Nomadic Chromatics and Santa Claus will join the festivities again this year.

“Over the past few years, the Nomadic Chromatics, a mixed a capella group from Marywood University, has appeared at our Christmas and spring shows and performed at least one song with us,” said Tom Roberts, chorus president, in a prepared release. “The audience and we enjoyed the addition of the female voices to our sound and performance, so we fully embraced the opportunity to welcome women to our Chorus.”

“It’s really cool to know you’re one of the first females involved, and it gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride,” said Mangan, a student at Wyoming Valley West (WVW), in a prepared release.

Holehan, a recently retired registered dietitian with experience in area choral groups and singing folk music, said she joined the chorus to take her vocals to a new level—to sing a capella.

“My experience has been wonderful so far. The members have been very welcoming and accepting of me as an equal musical talent,” she said in a prepared release. “There is not really a feeling of being different because I’m female; I am accepted as being part of the whole group.”

Lechak, a senior at WVW, has been a singer ever since she was in pre-school.

“At my preschool’s Christmas concert, everyone in my class forgot the words to a song except me. I walked up to the microphone and sang it as a solo,” she said in a prepared release.

For Dennis, also a student at WVW, this will be her second year at annual the Christmas show. She attended the 2016 concert to support her male classmates, who are part of the chorus, and discovered an appreciation for the style.

“I joined the Chorus because I wanted to both have fun and expand my knowledge of music,” she said. “I like the style of music that barbershop singing is arranged in. I find the chords to be exciting because I am a major fan of dissonance that is resolved, and this type of arrangement is very common in barbershop music.”

“I definitely encourage more women to join this group,” said Holehan. “It is fun, challenging, musical, and rewarding to be performing with this group that has broken with a long-standing tradition, only to create a new one!”

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